ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>ZAFARN&#256MAH-I-RA&#7750J&#298T SI&#7748GH</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279<i>ZAFARN&#256MAH-I-RA&#7750J&#298T SI&#7748GH</i>, sub-titled <i>Ra&#7751j&#299tn&#257mah</i>, by Kanhaiy&#257 L&#257l is an account in Persian verse of the reign of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and his successors, covering the period 1799-1849. The manuscript copies of the work are preserved in Pañj&#257b University Library, Lahore; Pañj&#257b Public Library, Lahore; <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar ; and the Punjab State Archives, Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. Its author, Kanhaiy&#257 L&#257l, was a native of Jalesar, an old town in &#256gr&#257 district of Uttar Pradesh. His father L&#257l&#257 Har&#299 Nar&#257i&#7751 M&#257thur had migrated to Lahore. Here Kanhaiy&#257 L&#257l acquired technical education and rose to be an executive engineer. The British government conferred upon him the title of R&#257i Bah&#257dur. "Hind&#299" was his pen-name. He was a prolific writer and wrote several books in Persian and Urdu. Of these, his <i>Tar&#299<u>kh</u>-i-Pañj&#257b</i> in Urdu prose is, in his own words, an expanded version of his <i>Ra&#7751j&#299tn&#257mah</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>Zafarn&#257mah</i> in Persian means a letter or account of victory. It was one of the common titles given by Persian poems and historians to their works in prose and verse eulogizing the conquests and achievements of kings and military heroes. Already D&#299w&#257n Amar N&#257th Akabr&#299, a high official under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, had written an account of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's conquest under the title, <i>Zafarn&#257mah-i-Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh</i>, which remained unpublished until 1928. Kanhaiy&#257 L&#257l's <i>Zafarn&#257mah</i> was lithographed in 1876 at Mustaf&#257&#299 Press, Lahore. A summary translation of it in English was serialized in the <i>Indian Antiquary</i>, Calcutta, during October 1887-April 1888.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the compilation of <i>Zafarn&#257mah-i-Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh</i>, Kanhaiy&#257 L&#257I seems to have utilized works such as Sohan L&#257l S&#363r&#299's <i>'Umdat ut-Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u></i>, B&#363&#7789e Sh&#257h's <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u>-i-Punjab</i> and, possibly, D&#299w&#257n Amar N&#257th's <i>Zafarn&#257mah</i>. Following the style of Persian poets like Firdaus&#299 and Niz&#257m&#299 Gañjav&#299, Kanhaiy&#257 L&#257l commences his book with invocation to God. This is followed by laudation of Hindu and Muslim teachers and the Gur&#363s. The major portion of the work is taken up by the wars and conquests of Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh, ten concluding chapters covering the period from the coronation of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh to the annexation of the Punjab by the British in 1849. The author' style is highly hyperbolic and full of poetic exaggerations. He describes the techniques of war and dauntless bravery of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh and praises the courage, manliness and chivalry of his soldiers comparing them to such legendary heroes as Rustam and Asfand Y&#257r.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1">Kirpal Singh, <i>A Catalogue of Persian and Sanskrit Manuscript</i>. Amritsar, 1962<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Janak Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>